Proposal could spell changes to Kamm's Corner area in Cleveland

View full sizeIn this sketch, the intersection of Triskett Road and Lorain Avenue in West Park is reconfigured, with green space to slow traffic and give pedestrians less pavement to cross. The project is part of a proposal presented to the Cleveland Planning Commission.

CLEVELAND Planning the design of a neighborhood is more than architecture and the ideal placement of land uses so they can interact with other. It’s also about anticipating economic and social changes in the near future.

That’s what a plan for the Lorain Avenue corridor, from the West Park Rapid station west to Triskett Road, is attempting to do.

Some of the anticipated changes include the possibility that one or more car dealerships on Lorain could relocate to a freeway interchange, as other dealerships have done. Other changes are the growing numbers of seniors and an apparent lack of suitable housing for them in West Park.

The planning work, called the West Park/Lorain Avenue Transportation and Redevelopment Plan, was presented to the Planning Commission on Sept. 16 for possible incorporation into the citywide plan. However, commission members said the plan as presented was too broad and asked the plan’s sponsor, the Kamm’s Corners Development Corp. and its project consultant City Architecture, to come back in 60 days with a simpler presentation.

“We’ll work with the consultant to tweak the plan and partially simplify it,” said KCDC Executive Director Steve Lorenz. “After it’s adopted (by the Planning Commission), it will make it a lot easier for when development happens. It will make easier to move it through the city’s approvals process.”

View full sizeNew housing, including some much-needed senior citizen units, could rise adjacent to the West Park Rapid station at some point if the proposal gets the nod from the Cleveland Planning Commission.

He cautioned that none of the car or motorcycle dealerships on Lorain have announced they are moving. However one has already closed — Ganley Dodge West, 15600 Lorain Ave.. It was demolished for a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall. The West Park Post Office has not closed either, but other post offices are being closed or consolidated. In fact, Lorenz said he hopes nobody closes or moves.

“They’ve been great neighbors,” he said. “We’re just trying to be out in front of the trends as much as possible. That’s what you do in planning.”

When he secured the funding last year, Keane said the goal of the plan was to give the area more of a neighborhood feel. That includes slowing down traffic to make that section of Lorain more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly.

The plan would add dozens of townhouses, senior housing and neighborhood retail at the West Park Rapid station, while adding signage that increases the visibility of the station. That might also help address a false perception that the area is unsafe, according to the plan which is available on KCDC’s website.

KCDC, the Bellaire-Puritas Development Corp. and the McGregor Foundation are conducting a study of senior housing demand, housing products and services. But Lorenz says if Franciscan Village, 3648 Rocky River Drive, is any indication, more senior housing is needed in West Park.

“Franciscan Village has a two-year wait (to get in),” he said. “We have some direct evidence that there is a shortage of senior housing. After their children move out, residents say they would like to stay in the neighborhood. We want to offer the housing products or services they need.”

East of West 150th Street, the plan proposes outlot retail along Lorain’s sidewalks to create a more neighborhood feel. And, the angled intersection of Triskett and Lorain is proposed to be redesigned so it meets Lorain at a right angle. That would slow down traffic, give pedestrians less pavement on Triskett to cross, and improve vehicular egress from the growing West Park YMCA, Lorenz said.

“The low-hanging fruit is the Triskett and Lorain intersection,” he said. “Repaving Triskett from West 140th to Lorain is funded for 2013. That would be a good time to square the intersection of Triskett and Lorain and add a pocket park there.”

Overseeing the planning work is a committee of a dozen people representing property owners, residents, the city, KCDC, NOACA and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

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